In nine special elections Tuesday night, Republicans picked up a net gain of two seats - one in the House and one in the state Senate.

Both sides were happy as Republicans said they had made inroads on traditionally Democratic territory, and Democrats said they had largely held back a Republican onslaught that was part of a national trend that started last year.

In a major upset victory, Republican Len Suzio defeated Democrat Thomas E. Bruenn for a state Senate seat in Meriden that was previously held by a Democrat for the past 36 years.

The Democrats were unsuccessful in trying to hold the seat that had been held since 1995 by Sen. Thomas P. Gaffey, who was one of the most powerful senators on education issues. Gaffey resigned his seat in early January after being arrested in a double-billing case that had caused controversy at the state Capitol and in the district.

The GOP also regained a seat that had been held by Democratic Rep. Deborah Heinrich of Madison, who is now working for Gov. Dannel P. Malloy. Heinrich had previously won the seat in traditionally Republican-leaning Madison, where former Rep. Peter Metz had led the district until losing in an upset to Heinrich. Now, the GOP has the shoreline seat back.

"Five out of six in the House. We feel pretty good about that,'' Donovan told Capitol Watch on Tuesday night. "Here we have the governor coming out with a tough budget, and the Democrats win. ... It tells us that people in those areas are supportive of what the Democrats are doing. We're happy about that.''

Senate Republican leader John McKinney was also happy as the Republicans gained the Meriden seat that had previously been held by the Democrats for nearly four decades.

"We were able to pick off one of them,'' McKinney said of the win by Suzio in Meriden. "To win one in the Speaker's hometown is a good win for the party. ... The state is more fiscally moderate than its General Assembly is. It was just November where the Democrats won all the races.''

Cafero said that Republicans had made important strides since last year as the Democrats now lead the House by 99 to 52 and the Senate by 22 to 14. Previously, the Democrats had veto-proof majorities in both chambers.

"Keep in mind, less than three months ago, we were an underdog in all of them,'' Cafero said of the nine races that the Republicans lost in November. "We had nothing to lose and everything to gain - and we gained. We are ecstatic at our growth. It's never been done before.''

Cafero was referring to the one-year pickup of seats since the elimination of the state's party-lever in 1986.

In Stamford, state Rep. Carlo Leone won the Senate seat that had been previously held by Andrew McDonald, who is now serving as Malloy's legal counsel.

Republicans had believed they had a strong chance to win the House seat that was held by former state Rep. Jamie Spallone because Peckinpaugh was running. Peckinpaugh, 59, has huge name recognition from her days as a journalist, as well as from running in a losing effort against U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney in last November's Congressional election. She is running against Miller, 52, a well-known Democratic figure in his district who has touted his eight balanced budgets in his four terms as the top official in his hometown.

The Courant's Erik Hesselberg reported that: The race had become increasingly heated in recent weeks, with each side launching charges and counter-charges. State Democratic Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo alleged that Peckinpaugh failed to disclose more than $70,000 in campaign expenses during her 2nd Congressional District bid last year, a claim Peckinpaugh called a "diversion." Meanwhile, Peckinpaugh supporters criticized Miller for saying he would finish out his term as first selectmen if he were elected, claiming he could not juggle both jobs.

In a traditionally Republican town, Miller - in 2003 - became only the third Democrat in the town's history to be first selectman. He has since been re-elected by wide margins.

Peckinpaugh now has two consecutive defeats since November - to Courtney and Miller - and Democrats say that should spell the end for her political career.

Peckinpaugh conceded shortly after 9 p.m. in a brief speech to supporters at the Griswold Inn in Essex. Folks in attendance said she was choking back tears and was surprised by the results.

Later, she said, "I'm disappointed. I was surprised by the turnout in Essex." The turnout, about 30 percent, tipped the race in Miller's favor, she said.

Peckinpaugh, who also lives in Essex, won only one town of the four in the district: Haddam.

In the same way that the Republicans declared victory, the Senate Democrats said it was a good night. Senate President Pro Tem Donald Williams said he is pleased to move forward with a 22 - 14 margin and believes that the legislature can pass the state budget before the regular legislative session ends at midnight on Wednesday, June 8.

"Given the atmosphere across the country, I am so impressed that people saw through the distortion and the rhetoric and will give this governor a fair shake,'' Williams told Capitol Watch. "I think a lot of folks were predicting there would be this big tidal wave, wiping out the Democrats. The voters rejected that. The people of Connecticut want to give Dan Malloy a fair shake.''

Senate Majority Leader Martin Looney of New Haven said, "Clearly, it's very gratifying that we won two out of the three Senate races in a difficult economic climate ... in the wake of the governor's tough, but realistic, budget message. We're quite pleased to be going back with 22 Democratic senators.''

In one of her first post-gubernatorial endorsements, Republican M. Jodi Rell has endorsed Janet Peckinpaugh in the state House of Representatives race in southeastern Connecticut.

Rell has sent out quotes that some Republicans are using in brochures that are being mailed to households, but she wrote a letter on behalf of Peckinpaugh that has been sent to newspapers around the state.

The letter states:

"I encourage residents of Chester, Deep River, Essex and Haddam to vote for Janet Peckinpaugh for state representative on Feb. 22. Janet will be a strong voice for the people of the Connecticut River Valley.

"Janet Peckinpaugh is best known as a television reporter who has spent many years listening to people and getting to the bottom of a problem or issue. She raised a son as a single mother, and he is now attending college. Janet also owns a small business and understands what is needed to promote economic opportunity.

"The state Legislature faces many challenges. Janet Peckinpaugh will work tirelessly and make the right choices to close our budget deficit and foster growth in our economy. Janet is the type of decent, honest, hardworking person we need at a critical time in Connecticut's history.

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Tom Foley has endorsed Janet Peckinpaugh for state representative in the special election on Tuesday, Feb. 22.

Peckinpaugh is seeking to fill the seat previously held by state Rep. Jamie Spallone, who stepped down to become the deputy Secretary of the State in the office with newly elected Denise Merrill. The race is one of the highest-profile contests in the special election as Peckinpaugh faces Democrat Phil Miller, the Essex first selectman since 2003.

Republicans believe they have a strong chance to recapture the seat because Peckinpaugh has high name recognition from her television career and her race against U.S. Rep. Joseph Courtney that ended in a loss last November.

"Most of us know Janet Peckinpaugh from her years as a Connecticut television reporter and news anchor,'' Foley said in a statement. "But you should also know she is a hard working, single mother who runs a small business and understands what needs to be done to make our economy healthy again.''

Democratic State Chairwoman Nancy DiNardo said Tuesday that she has filed a formal complaint with the Federal Election Commission about the 2010 campaign finance reporting of Janet Peckinpaugh, the Republican who lost the 2nd District U.S. House race on Nov. 2 and now is running in a Feb. 22 special election for state representative.

"Peckinpaugh may have concealed $70,000 in expenditures, illegally used campaign funds for personal use, and failed to pay thousands to staff and small businesses,' DiNardo said in a press release. "She should address these issues immediately, or drop her candidacy for state representative."

Peckinpaugh denied anything is amiss and called the complaint "a laugh" and "a joke." She said DiNardo is only lodging the complaint now to sabotage her campaign in the 36th House District against Democrat Philip Miller, the first selectman of Essex, and could have raised the issue last year when she lost to incumbent Democratic Congressman Joe Courtney.

The Courant's Rinker Buck reports: Granted, it was a slow news day, but Connecticut journalists really were excited Friday morning when they received an email blast from the Janet Peckinpaugh campaign with this headline, "PECKINPAUGH WOULD BE FIRST WOMAN IN CONGRESS IN CT-02."

The release from Peckinpaugh's press contact Danica Pecirep, replete with a full chart of all Second District reps going back to the Whig days of the 19th century, documented how "35 men have represented the Second Congressional District in the U.S. House" since 1835. This would make "journalist, single mother and small businesswoman" Peckinpaugh the first woman elected to the House from the Second.

Regrettably, however, frenzied efforts to run this news prominently on websites and perhaps rethink Saturday's front pages had to be abandoned. An hour after she released her "Peckinpaugh Would Be First Woman" bombshell, Pecirep conceded that her initial release was wrong.

In fact, as Pecirep's first release showed, a rather distinguished woman, Chase Going Woodhouse, a Connecticut College professor, economist and well-known New Dealer, served two terms in the House from the Second District in the 1940s.

"We're revising the release," Pecirep said. "Now we're saying that, if elected, Janet will be one of only two women to have served in the House of Representatives from the Second."

The Peckinpaugh campaign snafu presents an opportunity, however, to revisit the resume of a distinguished woman who stood out long before modern feminism smoothed the way for female careerists. Woodhouse, the daughter of an Alaska miner, graduated from high school in Kentucky in 1908 and then studied econAfter marrying a Yale professor, Woodhouse and her husband held down joint academic appointments at Smith and the University of North Carolina. Woodhouse won recognition as a pioneering economist studying such fields as the status of women in the workplace and trends in employment. She entered politics after moving to Connecticut in the 1930s, largely out of frustration with the ongoing impact of the Great Depression.

In 1940 Woodhouse was elected Connecticut's Secretary of the State and she later served on the Connecticut Minimum Wage Board and the War Labor Board and chaired the New London Democratic Town Committee. During her two non-consecutive terms in Congress, from 1945 to 1947 and 1949 to 1951, Woodhouse served on the powerful Committee on Banking and Currency and was later an unusually outspoken critic of McCarthyism.

Republican congressional candidate Sam Caligiuri has met a series of fundraising thresholds set by the National Republican Congressional Committee, making him eligible for "contender status."

That could open the door for Caligiuri to receive a significant infusion of cash and resources from national Republicans as he battles Democratic U.S. Rep. Chris Murphy in Connecticut's 5th District.

Meanwhile, over in the 2nd District, the NRCC has granted Republican Janet Peckinpaugh "on the radar" status, the first step in the three-tiered Young Guns program. Peckinpaugh is hoping to unseat Democratic U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney.

Former Congressman Rob Simmons has endorsed former television anchor woman Janet Peckinpaugh's bid to win his old seat.

"Janet Peckinpaugh is a trusted, independent voice in Connecticut," Simmons said in an email circulated by the Peckinpaugh campaign. "She will be a terrific Representative of Eastern Connecticut...and I am enthusiastically endorsing her candidacy."

Simmons called Peckinpaugh an "articulate spokeswoman for the issues that really matter to people: creating jobs through small business advocacy, standing up for the men and women who proudly wear the uniform of the United States military, fighting for SUBASE-New London, working to jumpstart action on Route 11 in Southeastern Connecticut, and representing all the people who feel like they've been left out of the loop by Nancy Pelosi's biggest supporter - Joe Courtney."

Anyone willing to place a bet on whether Simmons will endorse that other female pol with blonde hair who made her name in a field other than politics and is running for federal office this year?

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The mercurial 2nd, a wide swath of the state stretching from the Mass. border to Rhode Island to Long Island Sound, has always been a bit quirky: When Rob Simmons held the seat, it was the most Democratic district in the nation represented by a Republican.

"She only recently became a Republican so she probably cuts more down the middle,'' said Greg Blair, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee. "She's clearly an independent-minded person, it sounds like that makes her an interesting fit for the district.''

Peckinpaugh said in a voicemail message left this afternoon that she has spent the past week talking to delegates.

"I know I'm getting in late,'' said Peckinpaugh, who plans to formally announce on Tuesday at the state Capitol.

She says her background as a journalist "taught me how to listen and get the facts and ask for answers."